The last to join the fray is Perfect Eagle Development Sdn Bhd,
which has submitted a proposal to acquire 279 acres of land, which
Kelab Rahman Putra Malaysia sits on, for a cash consideration of
RM296mil.

Perfect Eagle, which made the offer two weeks ago, plans to convert a portion of the golf course for property development.

The deal is still pending approval from its members. But if the
offer is accepted by the members, each of the 4,230 members would
receive RM70,000 cash each, which is not too bad considering that the
golf club membership cost less than RM15,000 when it was started in the
mid-1990s.

In 2012, Kelab Rahman Putra also received an offer to buy the club for RM130mil, however it was rejected by the members.

KPS, via its unit Cash Band (M) Bhd,
is the owner of three parcels of 194.65 acres of leasehold land. SP
Setia’s role under the agreement is to develop the land as well as to
market and sell the commercial and residential units.

It has been reported that KPS had done a study to evaluate the
redevelopment potential of the 18-hole golf course, and said that it was
“not-fully optimised in its current form and utilisation”.

It notes that the conversion of the land to mixed development status could unlock the true value of the land.
There is no doubting that golf courses in the Klang Valley are highly attractive to developers.

A quick check indicates that there are over 15 golf courses
scattered around Klang Valley, and Petaling Jaya alone has almost six
golf courses.

With land scarcity in the Klang Valley and the rising demand for homes, golf land has become hot property.

“As land become scarcer, golf land may become more viable for development as they are generally well located.

“In fact, much of golf land are located in matured locations with
established amenities,” says Mah Sing group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum.

Nonetheless, he notes that the recent golf land acquisitions was
mainly due to the location, land price, payment terms and development
potential.

“We do not set out to acquire golf land per se, but we continuously look at landbanks that fit our business model,” he adds.

Traditionally, golf courses in Malaysia are surrounded by lavish
bungalow units in a pristine neighborhood. Homeowners would enjoy a
tranquil park built within the area, giving them a peaceful environment
away from the concrete jungle.

“Most of the golf courses in the Klang Valley were planned to be
part of a comprehensive development with luxury housing and sometimes,
commercial components like resort hotel and office park.

“But as time goes by when the development matures and the land and
house prices increase in the area, it makes better sense financially for
the golf course land to be used for higher value developments such as
luxury housing,” says Henry Butcher Marketing Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Tang Chee Meng.

He says the factors that drive property developers to buy over golf
courses are location, matured neighbourhood, nice environment and large
land size.

When asked if there would be more golf land to be gobbled by
property developers, he says it would depend on the property market,
land prices, consumer preferences and development trends.

An analyst says that the scenario of having golf land being scrapped
to make way for property development is not only unique in Malaysia,
but also seen in other countries such as in the United States, UK and
Singapore.

“It’s a natural evolution as long as the state government approves it,” he says.

“The shortage of suitable development land in the city area has
resulted in developers targeting other types of land, and this includes
golf courses,” he adds.

He says acquiring golf land at the moment is timely, considering the maturity of the Klang Valley area.

“It would be the right time to develop such land especially if the golf courses are underutilised,” an analyst says.

While Mah Sing scores a hole-in-one with the acquisition of a parcel
of land in KGSSAAS, some developers may not find it easy to acquire
golf courses.

A major obstacle is getting approval from members.

One of the reasons why Mah Sing was successful with the KGSSAAS deal
was because the transaction did not need the approval of members.

That the land was up for sale was also known in the market.

KGSSAAS, located near Stadium Shah Alam’s Section 13, was sold for RM88 per sq ft to Mah Sing.

For Perfect Eagle Development, the acquisition could be tricky, as the consent of members is required.

When contacted, a member of Kelab Rahman Putra Malaysia says he
would prefer to reject any offer to buy the club land due to the
embedded value of the land.

While golf clubs have attracted interest of late, it is not a new phenomenon.

In 2011, Dijaya Corp, now known as Tropicana Corp Bhd, bought over the Japanese-owned Kajang Hill Golf Country Club for a reported RM228mil for 80.33ha freehold land.

The land was then be transformed into Tropicana Heights Kajang, a
mixed development project, comprising landed homes, condominiums,
apartments, and shop offices with an expected gross development value of
RM2bil.